chocobohaired | Open post

[ from here. ]

Nah, I'm at home.

[ He's definitely not in the mood to see people. Well, except Zack, who has the tendency to make him feel better about things. ]

Edited 2021-09-11 21:29 (UTC)

[ The call had come from Reeve. Seeing the man's name pop up on the screen of his phone always filled him with a bit of dread. There was rarely a reason for Reeve to call unless something had happened. And it was often something bad. This time turned out to be no different.

They'd found Sephiroth.

Apparently they hadn't been done checking out the Northern Crater. Cloud couldn't for the life of him understand why, but he supposed it's a good thing they had. They had found Sephiroth unconscious, seeming to be in a weakened state. A decision to capture the man had been reached (a fucking insane decision, if you asked Cloud, but when Reeve told him that Rufus had been the one insisting on it - it made a little more sense).

Now he was kept at the WRO's headquarters, in one of their laboratories, with every security measure taken to keep him there. Cloud does not feel confident that it'll be enough. Rufus had apparently not wanted Cloud to find out about this (well, fuck you too, Rufus), but Reeve had put his foot down on that matter. You deserve a say in what happens to him, he'd said.

Cloud had been tempted to simply say, "let me kill him", but he knows better than anyone that Sephiroth has the tendency to not stay dead. As evidenced by the fact that he's back again. He'd gotten the call while on his way back to Edge from a delivery, and instead of going home he'd turned Fenrir towards the WRO's headquarters. He'd have to explain everything to Tifa and Barret later. Right now, he needs to see his nemesis, to be sure that it's really him and not some very convincing clone or something. According to Reeve, Sephiroth was awake, but not saying much. Cloud has a feeling he may be able to get the man to talk. He'd always enjoyed monologuing around Cloud, anyway.

Once he's at this destination, he's welcomed in by Reeve who without saying much, shows him to the lab they're keeping the biggest threat to Gaia. This is insane, Cloud thinks as he's greeted by a uncharacteristically subdued Reno and an even more stone-faced than usual Rude. Neither of them seem happy about any of this. Cloud can't blame them.

Inside the lab he finds Tseng, Elena and Rufus. Before any of them can utter a word, Cloud points towards the door. ]

Leave.

[ Elena looks almost relieved, Tseng glances to Rufus who looks mildly offended, but neither of them protest - much to Cloud's surprise. He'd definitely expected Rufus to put up more of a fight. Maybe they're starting to realise that picking a fight with Cloud is never a good idea.

Rufus passes close to Cloud as he takes his leave and utters one comment, "Try not to kill him."

Cloud just scoffs. He makes no promises.

Once they're gone and the door's been closed he makes his way deeper into the lab. He fucking hates labs, and while this one doesn't look anything like Hojo's creepy-ass labs, Cloud still feels massively uncomfortable in this kind of environment.

It's not difficult to find where they're keeping Sephiroth. In a large, heavily reinforced chamber he's strapped down to an examination table with what has to be some seriously strong restraints. Cloud shivers a little at the sight of him like that. It's a little to reminiscent of his own time spent as Hojo's test subject.

He's not here to feel sorry for Sephiroth though. He can't tell if the man is awake or not. His head is turned away, and so Cloud slowly approaches the chamber. ]

Sephiroth?

@heroproceeding

Captured @sefirot